1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,080 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:27,300 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead 4 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:32,440 pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:40,840 for the life we're searching for. We are so glad you're here today. If you have your 6 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:45,280 Bibles, please take them and turn to the book of Philippians. This will be our third week 7 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,080 in the book of Philippians. A couple of weeks ago, we did kind of a quick overview. Then 8 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:55,000 last week we looked at verse one of Philippians chapter one. Today, tribal principles, some 9 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:01,160 principles that Paul is writing to the church at Philippi about helping them know how do 10 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:06,560 you live this life of joy? How do you get to that place where joy really becomes a possibility 11 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:11,760 in your life? Philippians chapter one, beginning in verse one. Stand with me as we read God's 12 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:17,760 word together today. As you stand, I want to keep in mind before you, it's kind of hard 13 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,000 to believe that we're only six weeks away from Easter. It's hard to believe it. I mean, 14 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:28,920 it comes fast. Next week is March 3rd. March 31st is actually Easter Sunday. We have Easter 15 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:34,200 weekend, the Good Friday Cross service that we do every year, and then of course Easter 16 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:40,040 Sunday morning. Lots to pray for. I ask you to just do your best to reach out to people, 17 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,880 invite them to come. We would love to see this place full of people. Many of them maybe 18 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,120 never have heard the gospel before. We would have no greater privilege than to see them 19 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:54,240 come to faith in Christ. At the very least, hear a clear presentation of the gospel, which 20 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,600 they will. Philippians chapter one. All right, we're going to read all of the first eight 21 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:05,800 verses. Now this is a family letter, a small church, Philippi, between 75 and 100 people 22 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:11,560 in that church. It never got bigger than that. And yet it was a significant group of believers. 23 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:18,400 It was the first church in Europe. Paul heard the Macedonian vision, came across with Silas 24 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:23,640 and Timothy and Luke. And so we have this incredible letter that he writes back to the 25 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:29,080 church at Philippi. It's a family letter, as I said, four times in this text that we'll 26 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:34,040 read the words, you all are side by side. And I'm just going to say y'all today. I hope 27 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:39,080 you'll forgive me because you all is y'all. It's not right. Y'all with me today? Y'all 28 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:44,800 with me. Amen. And then four other times, the word you is used always in the plural. 29 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:50,240 So actually there's eight y'alls in this verse. It's about the family of God. Here's what 30 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:55,440 it says. Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus 31 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:01,360 who were in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God, 32 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:07,480 our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. That's 33 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:15,160 that plural there. Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all in 34 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:20,920 view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident 35 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:27,160 of this very thing that he who began a good work and you will perfect it until the day 36 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:32,300 of Christ Jesus. Anybody that loves that verse just say amen. That verse is going to be a 37 00:03:32,300 --> 00:03:36,480 verse we come back to in a moment and spend some time on. For it is only right for me 38 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:43,080 to feel this way about you all because I have you in my heart since both in my imprisonment 39 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:49,600 and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with 40 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:56,880 me. For God is my witness how long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. You 41 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,960 see it's all the way through there. You'll never be able to read this first chapter the 42 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:05,800 same way again. Y'alls all the way through that. Let's pray together. Father, I pray 43 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:12,360 for the illumination of your Holy Spirit in this text. Help us to see these simple words, 44 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:18,400 what they mean, how they should affect us towards joy. We ask this in Jesus name and 45 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:25,760 everybody said amen. Please be seated if you would. So we've talked a little bit about 46 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,640 Paul and the circumstances before he wrote this letter today. Writing back to the church 47 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:35,320 at Philippi that he started after the Macedonian vision. So this is obviously a group of people 48 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:40,240 that he loves. He's interacted with them now for about 10 years in various ways. And so 49 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:46,960 he's writing this letter back to them, helping them know the focus of joy. Now at this time 50 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:53,480 he's in a Roman prison as he writes. And I have to think about the Roman imprisonment 51 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,880 of Paul. He was in prison several times. He was always in prison it seemed like. But in 52 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:03,280 prison he wrote the book of Ephesians, the book of Colossians, the book of Philippians 53 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:09,640 and then a more personal letter called Philemon. He wrote them all from a prison cell. And 54 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:15,320 he was in various forms of Roman imprisonment. Sometimes he was in chains. Often he was chained 55 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:21,840 to a Roman soldier. All the time he was in prison. Sometimes he was in an underground 56 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:28,320 prison at Caesarea by the sea. And I can't imagine sitting down and writing a letter 57 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:33,360 with a quill pen of some sort and a parchment of some sort and what subject would first 58 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,680 come to my mind. If I'd been in prison, in and out of prison for two years for preaching 59 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,720 the gospel of Jesus, I could only imagine what I might write a letter about. He could 60 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,200 be writing a letter about the injustice of where he is. He could be writing a letter 61 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:52,160 about Nero and the wicked Roman empire. He could be writing a letter about those that 62 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:57,880 betrayed him or deceived him. But no, Paul in this prison cell says, I know what I'll 63 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:04,560 do. I'll write a letter about joy. I'll let people know that no matter what your 64 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:10,680 circumstance is, no matter how hard your day is, no matter how hard your year or your ministry 65 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:16,880 is, no matter how hard it is in life in general, you can have the kind of joy that you want 66 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:21,720 to write home about. And that's what he does in the book of Philippians. He's writing 67 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:27,680 back to them. And in all his comments, they all lead to this idea of joy that's beyond 68 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:32,720 the happiness of what the world can give you, beyond the happiness of just good friendships 69 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:37,720 and good feelings and good food and whatever else brings us happiness. It goes far deeper 70 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:42,760 than that. It's about the joy that supersedes all those things. You want to read this book. 71 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:47,080 You want to dissect this book. But here's what happens. We read the book of Philippians 72 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,680 and we read through it very quickly because it's only four chapters. It's very simple. 73 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:55,240 And we kind of read through real quick and we miss some of those really important pieces 74 00:06:55,240 --> 00:07:03,920 of this letter on joy. Well, I want to go slowly through this. So as we read this passage 75 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:08,200 today and look at this passage, we're going to look at some tribal principles that will 76 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:15,360 help us be at the same place Paul is in the joy when times are tough, the joy when things 77 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:16,360 aren't perfect. 78 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,320 So first of all, I want you to notice as we read this that Paul talks about the right 79 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,880 kind of remembering, the right kind of remembering. He's praying for people and he's praying for 80 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:31,360 the church as a whole. And he says this as an unusual line. He said, I thank God in all 81 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:39,520 my remembrance of you always offering prayer with joy. I'm sure there are many things that 82 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:46,040 brought Paul joy about this church. Think about the Macedonian vision that was so supernatural. 83 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:50,720 He finally found God's will for his life and he went that way along with Silas and Timothy 84 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:56,800 and Luke. Think about Lydia, the lady that was at the seaside basically at the area by 85 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,360 the water, by the river where she was open to the gospel. God had already prepared her 86 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,240 heart and there was no synagogue there. There were not enough Jewish people there. It was 87 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:10,960 basically a Roman colony, but Lydia was open and Paul preached the gospel and she accepted 88 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:17,320 Christ and the passage in Acts 16 says that she and her family were baptized. And then 89 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:22,040 he turns around and says to Paul, why don't you just have my house, take my house, take 90 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:29,200 my porch, start your church in this place. He might've had that memory. It might've been 91 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:34,480 the memory of being in jail with Silas and singing hymns in jail. You remember that story 92 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:39,680 of the book of Acts and prison doors opening up and the Philippian jailer coming to faith 93 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:45,960 in Jesus Christ. Or maybe he's remembering casting demons out of the young girl that 94 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:51,760 was prophesying over him by demonic infiltration in her life. All kinds of things he could've 95 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,960 been remembering, but he also references in the letters some bad things as well. He said, 96 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:02,360 beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those that preach the gospel from 97 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:08,840 the wrong motive. So Philippi was a typical church. It wasn't a perfect church. Even though 98 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:14,000 they had a perfect savior, it was a church with good and bad. And yet Paul says, I thank 99 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:21,880 God for all my remembrance of you. It wouldn't have been like Paul to say, I thank God for 100 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,960 some of the things that I remember about you, but some of those things I'm not going to 101 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:29,560 thank God for. He doesn't say that. He says something very different. He says, I thank 102 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:35,160 God for everything that I remember about your life. Now I want to read this text and I see 103 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:41,840 Paul's heart and his life. I realized that this is not a perfect church, but he is taking 104 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:47,720 a perfect attitude. He has a selective memory loss, a selective memory loss. How many of 105 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,640 you in the room have ever been accused of selective hearing loss? Would you raise your 106 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:55,200 hand if you've ever been accused of that? Because that means you only hear what you 107 00:09:55,200 --> 00:10:02,120 want to hear, right? How many of you that have been accused of that are men? Would you 108 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:06,880 raise your hand if you are men? Okay. I believe that. How many of your wives accused you of 109 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,080 that? Would you raise your hand? No, no, you don't have to do that. You don't have to do 110 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,560 that. Well, selective memory loss is much like a selective hearing loss. You only remember 111 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:22,040 what you want to remember. Why would Paul say, every remembrance I have of you, I give 112 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:26,760 thanks to God with joy over that? And I think the answer to that is Paul remembered the 113 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:32,360 great things about what God was doing at the church at Philippi and set the other things 114 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:39,600 aside. I think he didn't keep that in mind. I think he had a memory and a selective memory 115 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:45,280 loss. As you walk through the letter to Philippi, you see some of those things that he doesn't 116 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:50,040 really bring up, but are facts about what was going on there. Now, there's lots of reasons 117 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,880 for joy. He talks about their participation in the gospel and the fellowship of the gospel. 118 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,520 It means that they have the same kind of faith. It means they have the same savior. It means 119 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:03,680 they have the same mission. It means that they are like-minded when it comes to carrying 120 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:07,080 out the ministry of the gospel. And in the beginning of that church, they worked together 121 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:11,680 in a powerful way. But Paul, when he prayed, when he thought back to them, thought back 122 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:16,920 about the great things that God had done there and forgave them the things that weren't great. 123 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:22,000 And I want to tell you today, that's a great attitude to have. It's a great tribal practice 124 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:27,760 to have if you're going to have joy in the body of Christ. Stay with me here. 125 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:34,120 Did you know the Bible tells us that God remembers our sin no more? And we can't chalk that up 126 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:40,680 to God being someone that has a memory problem. God doesn't have any thought problems, any 127 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:46,160 memory problems. But the Bible says that he remembers our sin no more. As a matter of 128 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:50,320 fact, I'll go back to the book of Hebrews chapter 10, a great, great text that talks 129 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:55,760 about the powerful things that happened through Jesus Christ being our high priest. And he 130 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,720 says, this is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I'll 131 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:04,200 put my laws upon their heart and on their mind I will write them. Then he says, and 132 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:11,280 their sins and their lollusties I will remember no more. Now I don't know about you, but I 133 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:18,480 get a lot of joy when I hear that verse right there. Their sins I will remember no more. 134 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,720 How many of you in the room have sins that you remember that God has forgiven you of 135 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:28,860 and you're glad God remembers them no more? Just say amen today to that. I am grateful 136 00:12:28,860 --> 00:12:33,200 for this verse. This verse tells me that God not only forgives, but he forgives completely 137 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,560 and he doesn't bring it up again. He allows that to be the path and the path ought to 138 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:42,360 be the path and it ought to bring you joy that you're forgiven as it brings joy that 139 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:47,280 I'm forgiven. And it's important for us to know that we can also practice the same kind 140 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:54,280 of forgiveness and remember those other things no more. Learn the lessons, but release them 141 00:12:54,280 --> 00:13:01,280 from their offense. And Paul is taking that approach. All my remembrance of you, I thank 142 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:07,280 God with great joy. I'm not letting anything else that happened to me while I was there 143 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:14,280 hold me back from the great joy I have from what God is doing in this spiritual family. 144 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:19,280 I wrote this down because I think it's important that selective memory loss will allow us to 145 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:26,280 forget what we need to leave to the past and remember what we need to bring us into the 146 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:32,280 future. That's a pretty big deal. You've got to remember the good things. You've got to 147 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:38,280 forget the tough things that happened to you in the body of Christ and in life in general. 148 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:43,280 And I know you can anguish in prayer if you want. You can just worry over that all the 149 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,280 time you want to worry over that, but it won't bring you progress and it won't bring you 150 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:54,280 joy. Paul chose to remember those things. All those things brought him joy. He didn't say, 151 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,960 I thank God for most of my remembrance of you. I thank God for some of my remembrance 152 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:03,280 of you, except that one thing or two things. He said, I thank God for all my remembrance. 153 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,780 And it was just his practice. Keep reading in the book of Philippians and you'll see 154 00:14:07,780 --> 00:14:12,800 he comes across a verse that you're very familiar with. Philippians chapter three, verse 13 155 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:18,880 and 14. He says, one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what 156 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:25,880 lies ahead. I press on. Paul says, I'm not going to sit there and think about all the 157 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:30,880 victories or the successes or the failures of the past, but what I am going to do is 158 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:35,120 I'm going to remember the great things and then I'm going to reach forward and move towards 159 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:41,320 the prize that God has for us. And I was writing this down the other day. I just felt led to 160 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:46,240 just in that moment, writing it down to say, take a moment right here at this point in 161 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:54,440 the message. Just take a moment. And I felt led to say, you need to exercise this kind 162 00:14:54,440 --> 00:15:00,880 of remembrance in your own church life and your own faith life with your family of faith. 163 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:05,640 How do you do that? Well, you do that by saying, I'm going to have a selective memory loss 164 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:12,160 here with the imperfect people that are around me. I'm going to remember what God did in 165 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:19,880 spite of them and how God worked around them and sometimes even through them. Maybe you 166 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:25,920 need to have a selective memory loss for others in your life that hurt you, that wounded you. 167 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:31,240 Maybe it means you need to forget and forgive that one person that said something to you 168 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:37,240 or about you or what that leader did those years ago. That keeps you from really fully 169 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:42,600 believing God in this present day or what that pastor said or what that group did or 170 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:47,800 what the church of Jesus Christ as a whole did or didn't do. And just come to the place 171 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:53,840 of saying, I know that the church is not perfect, but I also know that Jesus Christ is and I'm 172 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,800 going to keep my eyes on him. I'm going to press on towards him. I'm going to forget 173 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:02,720 what lies behind. I'm going to reach forward to what lies ahead. One of the greatest things 174 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:08,760 you can do in life is to be able to come to the place like Paul. I thank God for every 175 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:17,520 remembrance of you, all the great things that God did through you. When my father was a 176 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:22,800 pastor back in the day when I was in college, my dad pastored for a number of years. He 177 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:27,160 actually was a full-time pastor when he passed away a few years ago. And I was in high school 178 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:32,600 and just graduated from high school going into college. My dad was in a church in Oklahoma, 179 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:37,240 always pastored small churches in Oklahoma until that point. And sometimes small churches 180 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:42,840 can be tough. They can be hard. And he was in a tough church, a hard church. It was a 181 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,680 good church in many ways, but tough in other ways. And I knew some things that were going 182 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:51,520 on behind the scenes and some accusations that were made about him that were not true. 183 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:55,520 They were not moral or anything like that. They just had some people that didn't like 184 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,960 him for some reason. And I can remember being in college thinking, man, I wish I could meet 185 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:04,760 up with some of those deacons on my own. I would help them out a little bit. And it wasn't 186 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:09,720 a very spiritual thought I was having. I just wanted to come to my dad's defense. And one 187 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:14,480 of the things I said during that time, God began working in my life and I began reading 188 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,900 scripture and seeing that he was calling me to do something. And I said, God, I'll do 189 00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:26,880 anything for you except pastor. I won't pastor. Because all I can think of is the experiences 190 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:34,160 my dad went through as a pastor and I'm not signing up for that. I'm just not going to 191 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,660 do it. And over time, God worked in my heart, worked in my mind, helped me see that he was 192 00:17:38,660 --> 00:17:44,160 bigger than any church, that he was really the one I'd be serving and not people that 193 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:50,000 might be hard to deal with. And I was able to get past that. And I'm so glad I did. But 194 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:55,000 it came from selective memory loss. It came from doing the same thing that Paul is doing. 195 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:00,600 I thank God for every remembrance I have of you with great joy. Because I saw what God 196 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,720 was doing through the church and in spite of imperfect people, Jesus was really being 197 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:10,040 elevated and exhausted and people were coming to faith in Jesus. Even in that church back 198 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:16,520 then, that helped me get past all the imperfections of the church. And Paul is showing us how 199 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:22,260 to get past of all the imperfections of the church. And if you don't do that, what a loss 200 00:18:22,260 --> 00:18:27,680 it will be to the church and to your life. So I have three words of advice to you. Let 201 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:36,080 it go. Let it go. God has the ability to wipe that clean, to forgive everyone involved. 202 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:40,480 Let it go. You say, well is that cryptic? Are you referring to something pastor? And 203 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:45,880 I'm saying no. Nothing at all except whatever you might have experienced that keeps you 204 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:50,960 from moving forward. Paul says you need to have the right kind of remembrance. The right 205 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,760 kind of remembrance. Secondly, Paul moves into this great verse, verse six, where he 206 00:18:55,760 --> 00:19:02,840 talks about the right kind of confidence. Verse six is amazing. We're going to have 207 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,440 it on the screen here. I want you to read it out loud with me. Yes, out loud. And I 208 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,760 want us to read it out loud so that we can kind of let it reverberate inside of our minds 209 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,200 and hearts. And here it is. I think it's on the screen right now. Are you ready? Read 210 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:21,200 it with me. For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you 211 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:28,920 will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Isn't that an amazing verse? Let's read it 212 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:36,280 one more time. This time read it like you believe it, okay? Here we go. That means loud. 213 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:42,680 For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect 214 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:49,720 it until the day of Christ Jesus. You need to highlight that. You need to write it down 215 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:55,040 somewhere. Maybe you open up your Bible to the very first page where there are several 216 00:19:55,040 --> 00:20:01,560 places for you to write a note down. Write this verse down right here. How you run the 217 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:09,000 race has something to do with you, but how you finish it has everything to do with him. 218 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:16,880 You came to faith in Jesus because he convicted you of your sin if you are a believer today. 219 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:22,440 But how you finish the race has everything to do with who he is, and less about who you 220 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:30,840 are. Paul's writing this verse and essentially is saying, I am so convinced of this, so persuaded 221 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:36,120 of how God works in a person's life, that I declare to you, he who began a good work 222 00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:42,160 in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. Whether I'm with you or not, whether 223 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:47,680 another leader is there or not, I'm not worried about anybody who's in leadership there or 224 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:53,000 absent. I'm not worried about any circumstance that's good or bad. I'm convinced that he 225 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:58,480 who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. My confidence 226 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:05,720 is in God, is what Paul is saying. Is your confidence in God? Do you have the right kind 227 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:12,280 of confidence? That's a pretty big deal. At the very least, this verse speaks of eternal 228 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:22,800 security at the very least. I know that whoever God saves, he will mature or perfect or complete 229 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,960 until the day of Christ Jesus. It doesn't mean he's going to make you a perfect human 230 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:30,240 being. It means that he is going to mature you until the day when you are ultimately 231 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:35,440 totally transformed and you have a glorified body and obviously will be just like Jesus 232 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:40,480 in that sense of the word. That's what John is talking about when he says, when we see 233 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:45,200 him we shall become just like him because we'll see him just as he really is. That's 234 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,840 an incredible thing that can't happen until heaven, but in the meantime you're going to 235 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:54,920 be growing and you're going to be maturing and being perfected by everything that he's 236 00:21:54,920 --> 00:22:00,960 doing in your life. It means eternal security and everything else about growing in the Christian's 237 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:07,080 life. Let me just say this, doctrinally speaking, we say this a lot and it's true. Here's a 238 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:12,280 line that we use as a Baptist and I'd say most Bible believing people have this line 239 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:17,960 as well, once saved, always saved. If you've heard that line, would you raise your hand 240 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:23,400 if you've heard it before? Once saved, always saved. Over the years of preaching, I've come 241 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:28,240 to define quite a bit about what it means to be saved. I've added a word to that once 242 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,200 saved, always saved. I always add that word because it's important for people to stop 243 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:36,760 and consider what they're thinking or saying when they say this line. Here's what I say, 244 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:43,120 once truly saved, always saved. You know why I do that, correct? Don't you know why I do 245 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:46,960 this? Because I don't want someone to believe that there's some transaction that happens 246 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,880 where you fill out your name on a card when you walk forward during an invitation or that 247 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:55,240 you did in vacation Bible school or that you did at some summer camp or some service where 248 00:22:55,240 --> 00:23:00,080 you just prayed a prayer but it didn't make any difference in your life at all and then 249 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,400 you're banking on that for eternal security and I would just say no, no, no, once truly 250 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:11,240 saved, always saved. Once the Spirit of God actually grips you and you have not only eternal 251 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,640 life but you have the Spirit of God dwelling in your life, once he begins to change you 252 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:20,820 from the inside out, that's the truly we're talking about. Once truly saved, always saved. 253 00:23:20,820 --> 00:23:26,360 If he began and did work in you, not a church work but a divine spiritual work, if he began 254 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:29,840 and did work in you, he will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. That's what Paul 255 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:35,200 said. Long before vacation Bible school, long before church camp, long before revivals, 256 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:40,180 long before Billy Graham, long before TV ministries and track, Paul said he that began a good 257 00:23:40,180 --> 00:23:45,080 work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. At the very least it means 258 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:50,560 that once you are born again into the kingdom of God and you have Christ in your life, your 259 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:57,040 salvation is secure and eternal. Somebody clap in this room, my goodness, that means 260 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:06,440 forever and ever, forever. So what does that really mean and where do we get that idea? 261 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:13,080 Well Jesus introduced that idea in John chapter 10 verse 28, most of you know this verse. 262 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:21,120 He said I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish and no one will snatch 263 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:28,680 them out of my hand. Verse 29 goes on, Jesus goes on and says my heavenly father has given 264 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:35,680 them to me and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. What a powerful word 265 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:42,520 to those disciples, to us today in John chapter 10. Later in his letter to Ephesus, Paul wrote 266 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:49,120 this in Ephesians chapter 1, in him that is in Jesus, you also after having listened to 267 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:55,000 the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed you were sealed in him 268 00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:00,960 with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance. So not only 269 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:05,040 are you going to be in the hands of Jesus and the hands of the father that no one can 270 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:10,040 snatch you out of, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. His presence in your 271 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:16,280 life is a pledge from God himself that I will bring you to myself in that final day. If 272 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:22,600 you have the Holy Spirit in your life it's God's wedding ring on you that says they are 273 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:30,320 married to me. I am the groom, they are the bride. I will have them on that last day. 274 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:35,280 What an incredible picture. He that began a good work and you will complete it until 275 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:41,040 the day of Christ Jesus. Jude in this tiny little book just before the book of Revelation 276 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:46,640 at the end of the New Testament opens up by saying to those who are the called, beloved 277 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:55,040 in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. You like that word? I like that word kept. 278 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:59,560 If you've been called that means you are also loved or beloved and it also means you 279 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:05,440 are kept by Jesus Christ. You are kept men and women in this room if you have come to 280 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:11,280 faith in Jesus Christ. Kept by God who is more powerful than anything else and cannot, 281 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:15,680 there's no way anyone can snatch you out of that. Go all the way to the last verse of 282 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:21,160 Jude and here's what he says, to him who is able to keep you from falling and present 283 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:28,960 you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. At the very least, he 284 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,760 who began a good work and you will complete it to the day of Christ Jesus means your eternal 285 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:39,320 security. The Baptist faith in the message of 2000 has a great wording for this. I'm 286 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:45,760 going to read directly out of that, I'll quote it. It says, all true believers endure to 287 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:52,040 the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by his Spirit will never fall 288 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:57,640 away from the state of grace but shall persevere to the end. Now keep listening to me. Believers 289 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:03,800 may fall into sin through neglect and temptation whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their 290 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:09,120 graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments 291 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:14,880 on themselves, yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. 292 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:22,480 Now you're thinking through your minds. So that means a person can have a season of sin 293 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:28,120 even though they're true believers in Jesus and I would say yes to that. That's exactly 294 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:32,960 what the Baptist faith in the message clarifies. That's exactly what the book of 1 Corinthians 295 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:40,240 helps us with. That believers in Jesus Christ are not perfect on the day they accept Christ 296 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:46,600 but are being made perfect, made complete in the whole journey of walking with Christ. 297 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:51,200 And while there may be a season of sin that you're in, you will not be happy in that 298 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,720 season of sin. You will be miserable because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your 299 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:58,200 life that convicts you at every turn. You're going the wrong way. You're going the wrong 300 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:05,080 way. Turn around. Come back to me who died for you, who saved you. I am so grateful for 301 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:09,720 the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. I can't tell you how many times that conviction 302 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:14,200 or that sense of grieving him or quenching him has made me stop at my tracks and say 303 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,520 this is not the direction I'm supposed to be going in because I'm a child of God kept 304 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:24,240 by God and he's doing a work in my life and I don't want it to stop. That's what this 305 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:33,520 verse means. It's real. He's real. At the very least it speaks of your eternal security 306 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:40,240 but it also speaks of the progress of the believer. Because salvation gives you a new 307 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:45,960 nature and with a new nature you don't just live any way you want to live. You don't live 308 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:51,760 the way you lived in the past. You have the Spirit of God inside of your life and you're 309 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:58,040 constantly being led and convicted to go the way God calls you to go. So if you're asking 310 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:02,580 the question which you should be, what does it take to finish well? What does it take 311 00:29:02,580 --> 00:29:10,200 to be perfected? It takes someone who can begin the work and finish the work who lives 312 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:16,360 inside of you which is what verse 6 says. He who began a good work in you will perfect 313 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:22,360 it until the day of Christ Jesus. Do you find it interesting that in verse 6 Paul starts 314 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:28,120 with the word he with the pronoun for God instead of using the actual name of God instead 315 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:33,000 of saying God who began a good work in you or the Lord who began a good work in you or 316 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,400 Jesus Christ who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. 317 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:43,400 He doesn't do that. He uses the word he. And normally in language of the original language 318 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:49,920 the use of the pronoun draws attention to the character instead of the name. In other 319 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,080 words when you think of God you think of a certain thing. When you think of Jesus you 320 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,200 think of a certain characteristic. But using the word he means you have to do a search 321 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:03,960 in your mind what is the character being emphasized in this verse. Now here's the verse again. 322 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:10,800 He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. And here's 323 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:17,400 what I believe Paul wanted us to be thinking about. Not just these huge theological concepts 324 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:23,600 but very practical concepts about the he who began a good work in you. I want you to look 325 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:30,000 at it on the screen with me for just a moment. You have the verse he who began a good work 326 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,440 in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. And the way we ought to think about 327 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:43,680 this in the various days of our lives is like this. He who created me will complete all 328 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:49,400 the work in me until the day of Christ Jesus. He who saves me will complete me until the 329 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:55,280 day of Christ Jesus. He who forgives me will complete me until the day of Christ Jesus. 330 00:30:55,280 --> 00:31:00,680 He who strengthens me will keep me until the day of Christ Jesus. He who transforms me 331 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:06,780 will perfect me until the day of Christ Jesus. He who indwells me will perfect me until the 332 00:31:06,780 --> 00:31:11,320 day of Christ Jesus. He who provides for me will perfect me until the day of Christ Jesus. 333 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:16,220 He who leads me will perfect me until the day of Christ Jesus. That's the word for every 334 00:31:16,220 --> 00:31:22,400 need you have on the road to being perfected being matured. Jesus has an answer for that 335 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:25,800 as His personality and His character at work in your life. 336 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:32,320 He who began a good work in you will complete it 337 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,640 until the day of Christ Jesus. 338 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:40,640 The right kind of confidence is right there, right there. 339 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:42,960 You've seen Him create, you've seen Him save, 340 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:44,800 you've seen Him strengthen, you've seen Him forgive, 341 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:46,840 you've seen Him transform, you've seen Him do all these 342 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,680 things, and now He's in your life doing those things. 343 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:54,040 And when you doubt, you just remember that He who began 344 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:58,440 will also perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 345 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,640 The right kind of confidence means we have no confidence 346 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:01,880 in ourselves. 347 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,660 Paul goes on in the book of Philippians chapter three, 348 00:32:06,660 --> 00:32:10,760 verse three, and he says, for we are the true circumcisions 349 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,640 who worship in the Spirit of God in glory in Christ Jesus 350 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:18,640 and put no confidence in the flesh. 351 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,120 Paul says, we're not the people that say, 352 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:22,520 oh, I can do this on my own. 353 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,640 We're not the people who say, I don't need God. 354 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,560 I mean, I know the right thing to do, I'm just gonna do it. 355 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:31,300 We're not the people who do that. 356 00:32:31,300 --> 00:32:33,720 We put no confidence in the flesh, we don't put any 357 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,240 confidence in religion, but what we do put confidence in 358 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:42,760 is He who began the good work, who's gonna complete it 359 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,140 until the day of Christ Jesus. 360 00:32:45,140 --> 00:32:48,520 At no point is God unable to complete the work 361 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:50,280 He began in you. 362 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:51,120 Did you hear me? 363 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,320 Now you may feel pretty inadequate, 364 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,720 but God is never inadequate. 365 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,000 You may feel like you're not sure how He's gonna come through, 366 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,760 but He is sure, He knows exactly how He is going 367 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:03,680 to come through. 368 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,800 That's what compels Paul to say, what he said in Galatians 369 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,440 chapter two, verse 20, and many of you know this verse. 370 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:11,200 I have been crucified with Christ. 371 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,360 It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 372 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:16,680 And the life which I now live in the flesh, 373 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:19,560 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me 374 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,080 and who gave Himself up for me. 375 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,240 It's not I, it's Christ. 376 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:28,400 It's not me doing the work, it's God doing the work. 377 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:30,680 Now some people feel, I just like to call this 378 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:33,680 the perseverance of the saints. 379 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:35,920 Have you heard that phrase before? 380 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,440 The saints will persevere. 381 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,440 Even the, the Bible's faith in the message says 382 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,640 the saints will endure, true saints will endure. 383 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,640 But I don't prefer that word because I want it to be 384 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:50,720 really clear that it's not my perseverance 385 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:51,560 that makes this happen. 386 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,760 It's not your perseverance that makes it happen, 387 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:55,360 even though we ought to persevere. 388 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,520 It's His preservation that makes it happen. 389 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:03,560 So I like the line, the preservation of the saints. 390 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,440 When I get to heaven one day and I stand before Jesus Christ 391 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,280 and He says, well done, good and faithful servant. 392 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,240 I'm gonna look back at my life and I go, well it wasn't me. 393 00:34:12,240 --> 00:34:15,760 Who was you? 394 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:17,880 All along, it was you. 395 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,600 That's why getting to heaven is an absolute free gift. 396 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,960 I didn't earn my way there. 397 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,200 I may have earned a few crowns like you will earn crowns 398 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:30,280 as you serve Him, but those are to be cast 399 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,360 at the feet of Jesus in glory and honor of Him. 400 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:34,680 Well done, good and faithful servant. 401 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,120 Well it wasn't me, it was you Lord. 402 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,520 Paul says the right kind of confidence 403 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,800 is really important in your life. 404 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,360 In 1 Corinthians 15, 10, another favorite of mine. 405 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:47,960 Here's what Paul says, he says, by the grace of God 406 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:52,160 I am what I am and His grace towards me did not prove vain 407 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:55,840 but I labored more than them all and yet not I 408 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:57,240 but the grace of God in me. 409 00:34:58,560 --> 00:34:59,840 Now you have to read that two or three times 410 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:01,640 before you figure out what he's saying. 411 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:06,320 He's saying it's God's grace that made me so good 412 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:10,200 that made me so motivated that I wanted to give my best 413 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:14,160 but it was not me but the grace of God in me 414 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,320 that caused me to do what I did. 415 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:20,960 Paul had this acute awareness that it's not his performance 416 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:23,760 that makes him complete until the day of Christ Jesus. 417 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:26,680 It's what God does in his life. 418 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:28,680 You need to have the right kind of confidence 419 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:33,320 and the right kind of confidence is not in you but in Him. 420 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:38,080 And if you're ever in doubt, don't beat yourself up 421 00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:43,080 over your inability but lean on Him and His ability 422 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:45,320 to bring it all to pass. 423 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,840 For I'm convinced, I'm confident of this very thing 424 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:52,920 that he who began to get work on you will complete it 425 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,480 even to the day of Christ Jesus. 426 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:56,840 And there's one more thing that he says here 427 00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:59,360 in verse seven and eight and it's the right kind 428 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:00,200 of affection. 429 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,200 Here's what he says to this family, 430 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,280 this church family or family of faith, 431 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:06,440 the tribe as we've been describing it. 432 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:10,720 For God is my witness how I long for you all 433 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:13,000 with the attraction or affection, excuse me, 434 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:17,000 affection of Christ, the affection of Christ. 435 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:18,560 I long for you all. 436 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:19,600 Paul's a man's man. 437 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,680 He doesn't do a lot of touchy-feely stuff 438 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,440 but here he is saying, man, I've got this feeling for you. 439 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,880 He actually uses that phrase in Philippians. 440 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:32,680 And I long for you with the affection of Christ. 441 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:34,840 It took me a while to figure out all that he was saying 442 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:36,360 but I think I have it now. 443 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,640 Y'all remember going and taking family photos 444 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:42,360 when you were young? 445 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:44,520 Anybody remember the name Olin Mills? 446 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,720 Gosh, those were nightmare times for us. 447 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:53,800 I mean, to get all six kids to be able to smile, 448 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:57,280 sit still, not pick their nose, not hit each other 449 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:00,640 while the photographer was trying to set us up was tough. 450 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:02,120 Some of the hardest times of our life. 451 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:03,640 I mean, that's the person's kitchen we faced. 452 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:06,600 We had six kids at Olin Mills at one time. 453 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,640 And almost every single time at the end of it, 454 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:12,800 they didn't like us and we didn't like them. 455 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:15,560 And Olin Mills was happy for us to leave. 456 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:16,800 They didn't even want any appointments 457 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:17,800 after it's self pictures. 458 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:19,000 Just let the family go. 459 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:22,160 Just let them go. 460 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:23,000 It was rough. 461 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:27,200 But almost every time there was at least one photo 462 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,320 where everybody's eyes were open, everybody was smiling, 463 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:32,280 and they looked like they were a family. 464 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:34,480 And we would hold that photo up and we would say, 465 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,760 yeah, I see the family resemblance. 466 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:39,880 That's our family. 467 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:43,160 And we'd have those warm feelings, right? 468 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,160 And we still pull those photos out every once in a while. 469 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:48,480 And we forget all the bad things, right? 470 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:52,720 Leading up to that photo, we rejoice in that one moment. 471 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:55,720 Now Paul's doing this not in a sense 472 00:37:55,720 --> 00:37:57,760 of Olin Mills' photograph, but he's doing this 473 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:01,080 in the sense of the church at Philippi, 474 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:03,600 who was walking with him in what he calls 475 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:05,680 the fellowship of the gospel, 476 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:08,000 in view of your participation of the gospel 477 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,120 from that day until now. 478 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:12,920 In other words, you get me. 479 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:14,520 You understand me. 480 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,400 And I understand you. 481 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,000 And we're in this place surrounded by the Roman Empire 482 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,280 and Greek culture, and we are definitely in a minority. 483 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,240 And we have a priority of getting the gospel to other people. 484 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:28,960 And we worship someone that nobody else knows, 485 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,320 but we understand each other. 486 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,320 And when I think about you, my family of faith, 487 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:39,320 I am moved with this warm affection of Jesus Christ. 488 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,560 The first time I traveled overseas to preach was in Brazil 489 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:45,640 at the age of about 22 years of age. 490 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,360 And we stayed with, the different members of our team 491 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,480 stayed with Brazilian families 492 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:53,360 who spoke largely only Portuguese, 493 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,320 and we spoke largely only English. 494 00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:58,840 And we would go to worship services with them 495 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:01,080 at their church, and we would just have meals with them 496 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:02,360 and so forth. 497 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,680 And I was astounded at the age of 22, 498 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,160 astounded by the closeness of fellowship 499 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:11,640 and the camaraderie I felt with a family 500 00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:14,280 that we didn't have anything else in the world 501 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:18,200 in common with except the gospel of Jesus. 502 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:19,520 That's all. 503 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:20,960 We both loved Jesus. 504 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:22,960 There were some words that translated amen, 505 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,880 translates everywhere, hallelujah translates everywhere. 506 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,760 They used English for praise the Lord. 507 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:30,480 And so we could be in their worship services 508 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,080 and kind of understand what was going on. 509 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:36,160 But more than anything else, we felt affection for them 510 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:41,160 in an unusual way because we are fellow believers with them. 511 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:44,680 I'll be the first to tell you, 512 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:47,440 I'm not an emotional guy at all. 513 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:49,280 I rarely ever cry. 514 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,280 Just when the cowboys lose, which is a lot, I guess. 515 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,680 But I can think about some of you in this church 516 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,840 and some groups of you that I walk closely with. 517 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:05,600 And I have to take a step back and push pause 518 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,920 because my eyeballs are sweating just a little bit. 519 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:12,200 At the great affection I feel because we are 520 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:14,840 on the same page of the gospel. 521 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:17,000 We have the same calling, the same mission. 522 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,800 And God is using us in some incredible ways. 523 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:21,640 That moves me. 524 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,560 And I'd like to think I'm a little bit like Paul there, 525 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:29,920 who talked about the affection of Jesus Christ. 526 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:33,000 And it's not just there because Paul's also thinking 527 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,040 about another time where they're not just gonna be standing 528 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,720 around praying or worshiping Jesus on earth, 529 00:40:38,720 --> 00:40:41,920 but they're gonna be standing around a throne. 530 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,480 That's in that last day, that last time. 531 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:48,640 Standing on that throne, worshiping the King of Kings 532 00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:49,480 and the Lord of Lords. 533 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:52,120 That's part of the camaraderie of the body of Christ 534 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:55,160 and part of what Paul is communicating right there. 535 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:57,720 The right kind of affection for those people around you. 536 00:40:57,720 --> 00:40:59,200 And it's not the affection that says, 537 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:03,080 I like you and you like me and we're a happy family. 538 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,200 It's not even the statement of, 539 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:10,280 I don't like you necessarily, but I love you in Jesus. 540 00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:12,800 You've heard that before. 541 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:14,800 People have said that to me before, by the way. 542 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,760 Pastor, I don't like you, but in Jesus, I guess I love you. 543 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:25,600 This is more of God placed us together. 544 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:30,600 We're walking together as the body of Christ. 545 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:36,800 And I have warm affection for you of Jesus Christ, Paul said, 546 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:38,960 to the church at Philippi. 547 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:41,120 Wow. 548 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:41,960 Wow. 549 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:43,960 So put it all together. 550 00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:49,320 What does this passage say about finding joy? 551 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:51,160 I'll summarize it like this. 552 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:54,000 Find your joy in the great things God has already done. 553 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,440 The ongoing work he's doing within you 554 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:02,320 and the amazing tribe he's placed around you. 555 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:04,560 Find your joy there. 556 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:07,880 It's there to be had. 557 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,120 It's there to be experienced. 558 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:11,080 And when you walk in that, 559 00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:12,520 no matter what your circumstances are, 560 00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:14,120 no matter the potholes in life 561 00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:16,360 and the difficulties and all the adversities, 562 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:18,360 Paul was going through all these things. 563 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:21,840 But there in the midst of all that, 564 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:25,400 you'll find the joy that Jesus intends for you to have. 565 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:27,600 And I want that for you. 566 00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:28,760 He wants that for you. 567 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:31,880 Would you bow your head for just a moment? 568 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,640 As I close in prayer, I'll just simply say 569 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,240 that the fellowship that we're talking about here 570 00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:42,960 is entered into by a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. 571 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:47,200 Coming to him by faith, asking him to forgive you of sin, 572 00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,640 give you the gift of eternal life. 573 00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:52,360 And we would love to talk to you about that today. 574 00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:54,920 Maybe you're not sure if you are truly saved. 575 00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:59,920 We talked about once truly saved, always saved. 576 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:01,880 Are you truly saved? 577 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:03,800 Have you truly come to faith in Jesus? 578 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:07,320 Has there been times after you put your faith in Christ 579 00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:10,560 in your mind that your heart was being transformed? 580 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:12,720 Have you seen evidence of the work of his spirit 581 00:43:12,720 --> 00:43:13,560 in your life? 582 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:16,000 And if that's there, rejoice. 583 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,520 If it's not there, let's talk about it. 584 00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:21,880 And we can talk through what that means 585 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:23,680 and what it takes to come to the place 586 00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,520 of giving Christ your life. 587 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:29,800 So I invite you to come by the decision stations 588 00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:32,240 that we have available at the End of East Service. 589 00:43:32,240 --> 00:43:35,440 I invite you to come to our guest reception center. 590 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:36,280 If you're a guest here today, 591 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:38,960 I would love to visit with you for just about 10 or 15 minutes 592 00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:42,920 about Cross City Church and how we might be able to connect. 593 00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:46,120 And then lastly, I invite you to invite others to come back 594 00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:48,080 as we walk through this amazing letter. 595 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,520 Would you stand with me as we have a closing word of prayer? 596 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:57,360 Father, I do wanna thank you so much for this group of people 597 00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:02,360 in this room today for this book, the Book of Philippians. 598 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:05,760 For the appals of Paul who wrote this 599 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:08,600 under the inspiration of your Holy Spirit. 600 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:10,520 And ultimately thanking you, Lord, 601 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:13,000 for the fact that you want us to know these things 602 00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:19,040 and to be able to find joy in our life circumstances in you. 603 00:44:20,240 --> 00:44:23,000 So Lord, I pray today that you will help make application 604 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:26,400 to every heart, every room, every person in the room today 605 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:30,440 that allows them make the decisions that lead us to you. 606 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:31,280 Thank you, Father. 607 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:32,840 I ask all this in Jesus' name. 608 00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:35,000 Amen, God bless. 609 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:36,400 Have a wonderful Lord's Day.